


They Were Ours to Begin With

by MiraMira



Category: Terra Ignota - Ada Palmer
Genre: 5+1 Things, Background Character Death, Character Study, For Science!, Gen, Original Character-centric, Pre-Canon, Trick or Treat: Chocolate Box, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29425674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiraMira/pseuds/MiraMira
Summary: The kids grew up.(Or, five former Junior Squad Scientists who became Utopians because of Cato Weeksbooth, and one non-Utopian who helped them anyway.)
Relationships: Cato Weeksbooth & The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry Junior Scientists Squad
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 6





	They Were Ours to Begin With

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ApolloMojave](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApolloMojave/gifts).



> Hope you enjoy this treat, ApolloMojave!

**Aldrin Verne**

For years, Aldrin’s pleas for a trip to Luna City are met with the same response by their ba’pas: “sorry; can’t afford it.” Even after Aldrin points out that the trip would be free for them. Even after pointedly questioning whether their ba’pas ever actually took their _own_ first trip, given their general disinterest in the idea.

Then they discover the Junior Scientists Squad. They do their best to ration out the recorded lectures, but it isn’t enough; they _need_ the real thing. When their ba’pas claim they can’t afford that, either, Aldrin writes an impassioned plea to Doctor Cato Weeksbooth.

They barely dare to hope for a form reply, let alone a personalized response. They certainly don’t expect Cato to show up at their door in person, visibly trembling arms shoved in their pockets as they inform Aldrin’s stunned ba’pas that Aldrin _will_ be at the next meeting, or they will want to know why.

There’s only one thing that could tear Aldrin away from Luna City on the eve of war, and that’s rescuing Cato Weeksbooth. They came when Aldrin needed them. Now it’s Aldrin’s turn.

**Robin Lucas**

Robin sees science primarily as a more sophisticated tool for causing mischief. They’re delighted to learn that unlike their ba’pas, Cato sees no flaw in this plan.

“Here,” they say, “watch how this chemical reaction causes the foam to turn blue, and expand.”

“What if I want it to turn green?” Robin asks.

Cato smiles. “Why don’t you experiment?”

They don’t figure out how to turn the foam green, but they do manage to superheat it in a way that causes Cato to start babbling about the implications for some theorem with far too many names attached to it, and demanding to know if Robin can replicate the steps they took. Robin tries, but this time, the concoction sticks to the container. Cato nearly passes out from excitement.

With the perpetual income from their share of the resulting patents, Robin can do anything they want with the rest of their life. They decide to go into practical effects for movies, quickly establishing themselves as the perennial Oscar winner for the category. This involves working with Thisbe Saneer more than a few times, though the scornful way the scent specialist talks about Cato makes Robin disinclined to pursue any deeper acquaintance, even if Thisbe seemed interested in looking past Robin’s vizor.

For Robin, like many Utopians, the path to the stars can only be lit by the fires of imagination. When they learn how Cato’s was constrained and twisted over the years, after all they did to spark Robin’s and so many others, they know there’s only one thing to be done. Even if it means whipping up another accidental superweapon of their own.

**Dunworthy Silverberg**

Dunworthy’s bash’ have been Masons since before Renunciation Day. Or so the legend goes. Dunworthy has their doubts.

“How would one go about proving the age of the Masonic Oath of Office without being able to see or touch it?” they ask Cato.

Cato frowns. “That’s a big question, and it’s outside my area of specialization.” Seeing Dunworthy’s disappointment, they relent. “But I know who might be able to help you.”

That’s how Dunworthy meets Herodotus Silverberg, whose research focuses on the sources of key Masonic traditions, and whether those traditions can be definitively traced to the Masons themselves. Herodotus becomes their mentor - and eventually, their foster ba’pa, when the adults of their birth bash’ make clear that they can continue to pursue their research or maintain a relationship, but not both. There’s no question from that point forward that they’ll take the oath upon completing their Adult Competency Exam.

And there’s no question when the call comes that they’ll help. Cato set them free to pursue the truth, without judgment or caveats. How can they do any less for them?

**Miles Heinlein**

Miles’s oldest ba’sib dies in a car crash when Miles is ten years old. They weren’t close - Kiran’s only real love was their vegetable garden - but they hate not knowing how to fix their ba’pas’ crying when they think Miles can’t overhear.

Somehow, in their search for something that will help, they stumble across Lesley Juniper’s speech after the death of their ba’pas. Miles watches it over and over, until they have it memorized.

“When I grow up,” they confide in Cato, in a quiet moment between lessons, “I want to build a transit system that works perfectly, every time.”

If they’re hoping that Cato will bring them back to Cielo de Pájaros and announce a new protege is joining the bash’, those dreams evaporate the instant Cato turns away. “The Utopians have already figured that out,” they say, dismissal dripping from every word. “Maybe you should study their methods.”

It doesn’t occur to Miles to ask why Cato or some other member of the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash’ hasn’t done the same thing. They simply hear the implicit rebuke: _you’re no Lesley Juniper, kid_. So the Utopian transit system it is.

Then the world learns the truth behind the “accidents,” and Miles realizes Cato’s bluntness wasn’t cruelty: it was guilt. Or maybe even encouragement. They _wanted_ Miles to discover their secret, or at least to ensure that the world need not remain at O.S.’s mercy forever.

Miles may have failed at the former, and they’re not so sure they can manage the latter. Certainly not on their own. But they can at least save Cato.

**Michel Seldon**

Michel is a born Utopian - literally. Their ba’pas stress that they can be whatever they want when they grow up, but Michel can’t imagine turning their back on the stars.

They can, however, see the flash of sadness on Cato’s face when Michel speculates on what their coat will look like, or which of their interests is most likely to win them a posting on Mars, or even just watching them with their ba’pas when they think Michel is too preoccupied to notice. They notice it happens with the other Utopian kids, too, so it isn’t something intrinsic to Michel and their bash’.

One day, they work up the courage to ask: “Doctor Weeksbooth, why aren’t you a Utopian?”

Cato says something about _The Horizoners_ and Taylor Harrow and how anyone can be a scientist. It sounds like an answer they’ve given a lot. Michel watches them carefully as they recite it, and isn’t convinced.

Psychology’s not a discipline that will get them to Mars. Anyone who’s leaving Earth behind forever has to study it at least a little, and those who delve too deep risk poaching attempts by the Gordians. But it’s in that moment Michel decides that the tradeoff is worth it: if they have to stay here, then it’ll be because there’s important work for them to do. Maybe they can even figure out how to keep the light in Cato’s eyes no matter what.

**Daedalus Preceptor**

Daedalus is Dunworthy’s ba’sib. They share Dunworthy’s skepticism regarding the bash’s ancestral claims: to them, though, the myth is a comforting one. Their Annus Dialogorum passes without any deep personal questioning, and soon their proud, relieved ba’pas are reporting to friends and colleagues that they’re at the Alexandrian Campus studying medicine.

They never lose touch with Dunworthy, though. Or stop following the exploits of the Junior Scientists Squad. Despite their ba’pas’ bitterness toward the club, they can’t help thinking their anatomy lectures would be far more entertaining if Doctor Weeksbooth were the one teaching.

So when Dunworthy, who usually knows better than to ask for details about the patients at Klamath Marsh (doctor-patient confidentiality aside, “Secure” _is_ in the name), breaks out the code they came up with following a Junior Scientists Squad lesson on cryptography to ask if there’s _anything_ Daedalus can tell them about how Cato’s doing, Daedalus obliges. Even when Dunworthy’s questions start turning toward topics like the layout of the facility and placement of cameras. Daedalus isn’t on Cato’s primary care team, but they can tell none of the doctors who are care about anything other than keeping Cato contained - and preferably alive, although they suspect that part is optional.

They’re tempted to ask Dunworthy to just tell them the plan, but they figure the less they know, the better. And if the other co-conspirators (because there must be others; they love their ba’sib, but master infiltrator Dunworthy is not) are fellow Junior Scientists Squad alums, they’ll find a way to pull it off brilliantly. With Cato as their inspiration, how could they do otherwise?

**Author's Note:**

>  **Notes on Naming** (for the curious):
> 
> Aldrin: As in Buzz. Also established in canon as a solid Utopian name.  
> Verne: As in Jules, author of _From the Earth to the Moon_.  
> Robin: A solid folkloric (and Shakespearean) trickster name.  
> Lucas: As in George. I also considered Giger, but I figured if Robin belongs to a bash' of other entertainment-focused Utopians, a more universal name might be appropriate.  
> Dunworthy: Historian and recurring major character in Connie Willis's Oxford Time Travel series.  
> Silverberg: As in Robert, author of the Roma Eterna series.  
> Herodotus: Early historian, not always known for distinguishing fact from legend. Presumably his Utopian successor is more judicious.  
> Miles: As in Transporter Chief (and eventual most important person in Starfleet history) O'Brien  
> Heinlein: Referenced in this context as author of "The Roads Must Roll."  
> Michel: As in Duvall, the psychiatrist in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series.  
> Seldon: In addition to already having been established as a Utopian last name, the founder of psychohistory in Asimov's Foundation series.  
> Daedalus: Mythical ancient inventor, noted for helping guide heroes through dangerous spaces. Also not noted for always thinking through the consequences of things.  
> Preceptor: Teacher or instructor. Derived from Latin, and still used in healthcare contexts.


End file.
